Maryland Alcoholic Beverages Section 12-103

      (a)      It is the declared policy of this State that it is necessary to regulate and control the sale and distribution within the State of wines and liquors, for the purpose of fostering and promoting temperance in their consumption and respect for and obedience to the law. In order to eliminate price wars, which unduly stimulate the sale and consumption of wines and liquors and disrupt the orderly sale and distribution thereof, it is hereby declared as the policy of this State that the sale of wines and liquors should be subjected to the following restrictions, prohibitions and regulations. The necessity for the enactment of the provisions of this section is, therefore, declared as a matter of legislative determination.

      (b)      The Comptroller is authorized and directed, by regulation, to prescribe the maximum discounts which may be allowed by any manufacturer or wholesaler in the sale and distribution of various quantities of wines and liquors. Said regulation may also, in the discretion of the Comptroller, prohibit the giving of discounts by any manufacturer or wholesaler in the sale and distribution of any or all quantities or kinds of wines and liquors.

      (c)      The Comptroller is authorized and directed, by regulation, to require the filing, from time to time, by any manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer, of schedules of prices at which wines and liquors are sold by such manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer, and further to require the filing of any proposed price change. Said regulation shall provide that the effective date of any proposed price decrease shall be postponed for such period of time as the Comptroller may prescribe sufficient to permit notice thereof to other manufacturers or wholesalers selling similar wines and liquors and an opportunity for the same to make a like price decrease. Said regulation shall also provide that any manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer proposing to sell any wines and liquors not currently being sold by the same shall first give notice to the Comptroller of the prices at which such wines and liquors are proposed to be sold; and said regulation shall further provide that sales of such wines and liquors shall not be made for such period of time as the Comptroller may prescribe sufficient to permit notice thereof to other manufacturers or wholesalers selling similar wines and liquors and an opportunity for such other manufacturers or wholesalers to alter the price of such similar wines and liquors so as to make that price comparable to the price fixed by the manufacturer or wholesaler proposing to sell wines and liquors not currently being sold. The Comptroller is authorized and empowered, in promulgating the regulations required by this subsection, to require the filing by any manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer of any other information with regard to the size, containers, brands, labels, descriptions, packages, quantities to be sold and any other data in connection with wines and liquors as the Comptroller may reasonably determine.

      (c-1)      The Comptroller may require, by regulation, that suppliers of wholesalers of distilled spirits affirm that the net price of each item offered for sale, exclusive of routine transportation costs, is no higher than the lowest price at which such item is being offered for sale elsewhere within the United States, including the District of Columbia.

      (d)      Any person violating any of the provisions of any regulation promulgated under the authority contained in this section shall be subject to the penalties provided in §§ 2-101 and 10-401, as the case may be, of this article.

      (e)      Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to authorize the Comptroller to fix the prices at which any wines and liquors may be sold by any manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer other than to fix permissible discounts which may be allowed by any manufacturer or wholesaler on such sales and other than to postpone the effective date of any proposed price decrease in the sale and distribution of wines and liquors currently sold by any manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer or the effective date of the sale of any wines and liquors not currently being sold by any manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer for a reasonable period sufficient to permit the filing of proposed price decreases or proposed sales of wines and liquors not currently being sold, as the case may be, with the Comptroller and notice thereof to other manufacturers or wholesalers, and an opportunity for the same to make like price changes. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require any manufacturer or wholesaler or nonresident dealer of wines and liquors to make sales to any licensees under the provisions of this article.